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Bands For Freedom Foundation

bandsforfreedom.com celebrates its first year of operations, generating $226,000 in donations in support of United States Armed Forces, with the help of the country music community and NFL stars.

Orem, UT -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/4/2006 -- Celebrating their first anniversary; the board of directors of bandsforfreedom.com and the Bands for Freedom Foundation spent the New Year's holiday reviewing some of the many accomplishments achieved during the their first year of operation. Their initial task was the selection of a charity that would help them accomplish their mission to educate the public as to the needs of our troops and their families, as well as providing much needed supportive aid for our men and women in uniform. Their selection process resulted in their choice of the Armed Forces Relief Trust (www.afrtrust.org), because that charity divides and dispenses the donated funds it receives in direct proportion to the deployment of the service branches’ deployment overseas. Acquiring a strategic partner to help them mobilize the public awareness of this effort was also high on their initial agenda. They were fortunate to align themselves with Military.com, the largest resource website for members of the military and their families. Next, they built a powerful website with a “heroes page” that displayed photos of celebrities publicly displayed their support of this cause by wearing Bands For Freedom. The country music community and the National Football League have turned out to be the strongest supporters for this work. To date there are 81 photos gracing the “heroes page”, including country music artists Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley and Sara Evans, as well as NFL stars Daunte Culpepper, Warrick Dunn and Michael Keaton, to mention a few. Bands for Freedom recently released a new IPOD® cover (available in four sizes), providing another way for donors to display their support. The net result of the efforts of bandsforfreedom.com and the Bands for Freedom Foundation has been donations in its first year of operation totaling $226,000 to the Armed Services Relief Trust, an exceptional achievement for a new charitable organization.

In reflecting upon this success, Andy Chudd, Executive Director of the Bands For Freedom Foundation, said "We’re very proud of this success in the first year of our work to support our troops. We had a great deal of help and support, and as long as our troops are deployed overseas away from their families while protecting ours, we are dedicated to reach new milestones in 2006 to support them and to make the public aware of their daily sacrifice for all Americans.”

About BandsForFreedom.com and the Bands For Freedom Foundation, Inc.

Formed in December 2004, BandsForFreedom.com and the Bands For Freedom Foundation, Inc. were created to educate the public as to the needs of our military personnel and their families, and to raise money to meet those needs. Through the sale of their patriotic silicone wristbands and IPOD® covers marked with the word “FREEDOM,” BandsForFreedom.com and the Bands for Freedom Foundation, Inc., allow Americans to make a respectful and unified statement honoring the men and women of the armed forces. All after-cost revenues from the sale of the wristbands and IPOD® covers are donated to the Armed Forces Relief Trust (www.afrtrust.org) to help soldiers and their families. For more information, please visit: www.bandsforfreedom.com